


Day 2: Kenophobia

by orphan_account



Series: Feartober Prompts (Abandoned) [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Halloween Challenge, Horror, October Prompt Challenge, Phobias, spooky season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26772931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Kenophobia is described as the fear of open/empty spaces.Triggers: Strong description of physical reactions to fear, mild body horror, and mention of vomit
Series: Feartober Prompts (Abandoned) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947484





	Day 2: Kenophobia

Sarah stayed a lot later than she thought. The building was practically empty. She only noticed the time when one of the lock-up people popped their head in to tell her to leave so he could go home. Soft clicks echoed through the staircase as Sarah walked down the steps. She paused when one of her bag straps slipped off to pull it back up. She froze. Someone was still walking. The footsteps echoed loudly. Sarah didn’t hesitate. She ran down the steps. Her breathing was amplified by the acoustics of the staircase. Tears fogged her vision as the other footsteps got faster. What is it? Fingers brushed against her back. Sarah let out a small screech when what she assumed to be fingers grabbed at her coat. What was chasing her? Sarah didn’t bother to look. She needed to keep running. She couldn’t afford to trip. Not now. Her chest ached from the exertion. A low growl sent shudders through her body. It sounded irritated. Sweat dripped down Sarah’s face which was probably bright red by now. A small wince escaped her when she flung herself around too fast and hit her side against the railing. The tender spot throbbed with pain and would no doubt bruise. A bruise was better than whatever the thing chasing her would do. The end of the staircase was in sight.

  


Sarah slammed her body full force against the door to burst out into the lobby. She didn’t stop running until she got outside. Only then did Sarah pause to look back. She unintentionally stopped breathing when her eyes met the eyes of…something. The thing was tall. It was bent almost in half to keep its head from touching the ceiling. It was dripping black goo despite looking solid. Two, glowing red eyes stared back at Sarah’s. Her eyes broke contact when a dragging sound rang through the empty space. Its long, spindly fingers, or maybe they were claws, were leaving deep grooves in the floor. Sarah quickly looked back to its “face”. Her stomach heaved as a loud, tearing sound reached her ears. Acidic bile rose in the back of her throat as she fixated on where a mouth should be on a normal face. The skin there was slowly tearing as the thing opened its jaw. Dark red sludge rolled down its chin and dripped onto the floor. It seemed like an eternity before the opening was fully torn. A gravelly, deep voice came from the thing as it spoke, “You won’t be able to run forever. You’ll mess up eventually and I’ll be there when you do.” Sarah couldn’t hold it in. She turned and ran off to violently vomit. It burned in her throat long after.

  


Sarah was known as a model employee. Sure, she was a little withdrawn, but you could depend on her to get a job done. She was also known to attach herself to groups when it was time to go anyone. She refused to walk down the halls alone if it was relatively empty that day. Sarah didn’t seem to like to be anywhere that was open or empty. Everyone shrugged it off as her not wanting to be alone all the time. They also didn’t say anything when they caught her eyeing the empty space behind them with a look of dread on her face. One person was brave enough to mumble, “I wonder what she’s looking out for…” No one else could see it. The thing that reeked of tar and dripped a gooey substance all over the floor. It hadn’t been following Sarah for long, but it wasn’t anywhere close to done with her yet. Not yet.


End file.
